Jennifer Lawrence's trainer is opening up about the advice he gave her early on—and it's pretty fascinating. Among the more interesting tidbits: He told her to avoid eating meat at night.
Dalton Wong, who has also worked with Amanda Seyfried and Zoe Kravitz, explained his reasoning to Healthista. According to Wong, eating meat at dinner will cause your body to go into overdrive to break it down for digestion. Instead, he recommends eating meat at breakfast or lunch, which gives your body the rest of the day to break it down properly.
Is this a real thing? Kind of, says certified dietitian-nutritionist Lisa Moskovitz, R.D., CEO of NY Nutrition Group. "While it is true that high-protein foods require extra time and energy to properly digest and break down, it depends on how much protein you're eating, how active you are at night, and other factors in your schedule," she says. "Simply avoiding meat at night is a very broad and vague statement and is not a necessary rule to live by, unless you're eating large quantities of meat (or over four to six ounces) and then going to bed within an hour or two later."
The concern with eating meat at night is that it may leave you with a heavy stomach, explains registered dietitian nutritionist Beth Warren, author of Living a Real Life With Real Food. And that can disrupt your sleep or even contribute to acid reflux, she says.
But not all meat is created equal. Warren says the higher the fat content, the longer it takes your body to digest it. So, red meat like rib-eye and T-bone steaks may cause issues, while leaner cuts like chicken and fish may not be a problem.
Wong advises having a good serving of protein at breakfast, which Moskovitz says is a good idea. "It is best to incorporate some lean protein at every meal if possible, but especially breakfast when you come off of a fasting period over night," she says.
However, certified dietitian-nutritionist Jessica Cording says the whole "skipping meat for dinner" thing really depends on the person. "Because it's a protein-dense muscle tissue, meat is going to require a lot more chewing and enzymatic breakdown to be digested than some other foods," she says. "Whether a person notices a big difference depends on their unique gastrointestinal system."
Cording advises letting your body be your guide. If you're having trouble sleeping or consistently wake up feeling off after eating meat the night before, try eating something different for dinner and gauging how you feel. She recommends topping vegetables and whole grains with a poached egg and cheese or having a tofu stir-fry and saving the chicken or steak for a salad at lunchtime.
Hey, it works for J.Law… .